


Be It Fate Or Chance

by Reddwarfer



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Romance, Space Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 21:20:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reddwarfer/pseuds/Reddwarfer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tired of dealing with endless red tape and pointless regulations keeping him from doing his job, Garrus heads to Chora's Den to drown his sorrows. There he meets the notorious Captain Shepard, vigilante pirate and bane to drug runners and slavers everywhere. Captain Shepard invites Garrus to join her crew and Garrus readily accepts, wanting to escape his life. In turn, he discovers happiness, love, and more secrets than he ever realized existed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be It Fate Or Chance

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for the 2013 Mass Effect Big Bang. Many thanks to the patient mods, my friends for listening to me, and my lovely artist, Celleno, who created the most gorgeous art. 
> 
>  
> 
> Please go tell Celleno she's amazing.  
> Art post at [Tumblr](http://celleno.tumblr.com/post/67274715694/for-mass-effect-big-bang-this-is-the-art-i-made#notes)  
> Art post at [DeviantArt](http://celleno.deviantart.com/art/I-ll-Take-that-Bet-414189871)

Garrus stormed into his tiny, ugly apartment after work, cursing the day he chose to follow in his father's footsteps instead of staying back on Palaven with his sister. At least, Garrus thought uncharitably, he could shoot something once in awhile if he'd signed up for an extension of his military contract like a good little turian soldier.

He glanced at his kitchen, then decided it wasn't worth the hassle of cooking, not when he was in a lousy mood and likely to lose time in a daydream of quitting his job by jamming a gun literally made of red tape in his boss' face, and end up with a burnt down kitchen.

"You're gonna have to let it go, Vakarian," Garrus muttered under his breath, then gave an indelicate snort. "Just like the last three times, right?"

If it wasn't red tape preventing him from doing his job, it was corruption. It amazed him that anything ever got done on the Citadel. The only people who he'd been allowed to arrest for crimes were the poor, the aggressively stupid, and the quarians.

Everyone always claimed the Presidium was a reward, a bonus. It wasn't. In Zakera Ward, you were allowed to do the job. On the Presidium, all Garrus had to look forward to was making sure the Hanar prophets had their proper licenses, keeping the statues vandalism free, and making sure no one tried to take a dip in the water supply. Any sort of real crime was committed by people either too rich or connected enough to stay out of trouble.

Though, that wasn't strictly fair. Executor Pallin believed in creative punishments for C-Sec officers who were "disruptive" and didn't adhere strictly to the multitude of useless restrictions and regulations. For Garrus, since he _was_ a good officer and he hadn't technically broken any laws, he'd been given a "trial" demotion. Which basically worked out to being a month in which he dealt with annoying petty crimes and infractions and was only allowed to deal with the cases he currently had open. If he wanted to continue working in the Investigative Branch, he had to learn how to toe the line.

Garrus sat down on his tatty couch with a sigh. He could quit. He could go somewhere else, find something else to do. The only thing was the other places who could use his talents were just as corrupt, just as lawless, if not worse. He'd rather not spend the rest of his life wasting away on some planet like Noveria, letting things slide because "that's how we do things here".

This line of thinking usually left him drunk and sore the next morning, so he was grateful when a call from his sister interrupted his full on rapid descent into the doldrums.

"Garrus," she greeted, sounding pleasant as ever. Which was to say, not pleasant at all. His sister was something of a hard-ass, and she loved accusing Garrus of being as soft as a salarian's egg clutch. "How is my favorite mall cop?"

"You'd never call dad that," Garrus replied, because she wouldn't. She actually respected their father.

She scoffed. "That's because dad knew how to deal with politicians. And you always look like you're seconds away from punching them in the face."

"That's because I _am_ always seconds away from punching in the face, Solana."

"You've got to learn how to hide that, big brother, or else you'll be making sure the kids of visiting dignitaries don't harass the Avina units for the rest of your career."

"Ugh," Garrus groaned, staring up at his ceiling. "Don't give me nightmares."

"Just trying my best to help," she replied, and he could hear the delight in her tone.

Garrus frowned. " _You_ are a nightmare."

"I love you, too, Gar-Gar."

He sighed. "I told you to stop calling me that. I've told you every day we've spoken since I was twelve."

Solana laughed. "Since when do I ever listen to you?"

"Good point." Garrus stared at the digital clock on the wall. It was still early enough to get drunk, if he dedicated himself to it.

"All right," Solana said, after another laugh. "I am calling you for a reason."

"Don't tell me, did that fringe-for-brains finally propose?"

"Garrus," Solana whined, sounding like the horrible, bratty sister she truly was, "don't call Qui'na that. He's a nice guy."

"Nice like a rabid varren," Garrus muttered, but Solana talked over him, "Shut up, Garrus, this is important."

"Okay, fine," Garrus said, tapping his talons restlessly against his leg. "What is the important thing you called for?"

"I'll be incommunicado for a while. Weeks, maybe months, I'm not sure. Special mission with the squad."

"Oh?" Garrus asked, suddenly curious. "Anything you can share or is it all classified?" Garrus should have known something was up with her when she hadn't started harping on him to make up with their father again.

"Can't tell you much," Solana replied, "but I can tell you it's low risk, relatively speaking."

"Good," Garrus said, attempting to sound relieved when he wasn't. "Everything will be fine. You're a great soldier and you've got some good men in your squad. Jarr=ison still with you? Klementan?"

"Yes, Garrus," Solana sounded amused. "Your school buddies are still here with me. They also make sure I never get to have any fun."

"Glad to hear it," Garrus replied, pleased. They were good friends. "Good luck, sister, come home in time to hassle me during the holidays."

Solana smiled, he could sense it, and said,"Yeah, and don't get yourself in trouble by punching a politician. Go out and get drunk after work like all the other mall cops."

"I'll take that under advisement." And with that, Garrus disconnected the call. Part of him was glad for the momentary respite from his problems by talking to her, but the larger part of him was disappointed not knowing when they'd get a chance to speak again. He missed her already.

**

If Garrus had wondered what the following day would be like, he wouldn't have guessed that it'd be any better or worse than any other day. He'd have been wrong to think that, horribly wrong. The next day was not only worse, by far, but it was working up to being worse than his last five bad days _combined_. The day started with Garrus having to rein in a couple of krogan who tried to urinate in the water supply, completely drunk on Ryncol and blitzed out on Hallex. There was nothing worse than a _krogan_ under the influence. Dealing with them was like trying to herd pyjack. After he got that sorted out, he then got called to deal with a "fan" of Sha'ira, who wouldn't leave without an appointment, because nothing said "I love you" like threatening someone with kidnapping and murder.

He'd only managed to choke down a lunch of nutrient paste because Venccino went home sick and he had to cover his post until his replacement, Larrias, showed up, who was twenty minutes late. Things looked up, briefly, because he finally got some traction on a case of his. There were a few people on the station who used to be acquainted with Dr. Saleon (and, damn, did that case still live under his skin) and all he needed was the opportunity to bring them in for some questioning to find out where the bastard was hiding and he could finally be brought to justice.

Unfortunately, Executor Pallin disagreed, loudly and insistently, with an irritated, _would you just drop this one, Garrus_ and a disdainful _do you want to have a longer working suspension_ and finally a _this is your last warning, Garrus, or I'll make your reassignment permanent_.

His last three hours on the job consisted of filling out forms and sending files off to the various necessary places, because nothing could ever get done without writing everything in triplicate. It was the worst, most tedious part of his job. All this time spent making sure he didn't forget to inform some asari matriarch about what he was doing in case her feelings got hurt from being excluded.

Garrus rolled his eyes as he sent in the last form he had to have filled out. All this effort and nothing actually accomplished. It felt like such a waste.

Instead of going home, Garrus headed straight to Chora's Den. He didn't even bother changing out of his work clothes, figuring if Harkin didn't, and he was still working, then Garrus certainly needn't bother. He didn't actually like Chora's Den very much. Too many criminals and terrible music made the atmosphere something to be desired. However, it was better than Flux, which had all those Quasar machines. Nothing like drunken gamblers to make an evening louder and more an obnoxious than he felt like dealing with at the moment.

Garrus went up to the bartender, ordered three shots of best turian liquor that he could afford, then found the darkest, quietest corner he could find in which to drink it.

He'd just started on his second drink when a shadow fell over his table. There was a human standing in front of him, attractive, he thought, by human standards, looking down at him with a quirk of a smile on her lips. "Mind if I join you?"

The no was ready on his lips, but something about the way she looked at him made his throat tighten. "Yes," he muttered, awkwardly gesturing to the seat across from him. "Feel free."

"Hello," she greeted and sipped her drink with a smile on her lips. "You look like you're having a bad day."

"You could say that," Garrus replied, itching to know who this woman across from him was. It couldn't have been anything other than deliberate, her choice to sit with him.

"I'm Jane," she said, "in case you were wondering."

Garrus laughed. "I did wonder. I'm Garrus."

"It's good to meet you, Garrus." Jane lifted her drink to him before she took another sip. "I think we're going to need a few more drinks."

Five drinks later, Garrus knew the following about Jane: She had a space hamster called Castor, she kept an aquarium of fish on her ship, she named her favorite sniper rifle Blasto, and when she was a teenager, she spent two years wanting to play Biotiball professionally after she graduated.

"Jane," Garrus said with all the seriousness of someone well into their cups. "You are the strangest human I have ever met."

Jane laughed delightedly. "That's Captain Shepard to you."

"Captain Shepard?" Garrus asked, sobriety trying to crawl its way back at the revelation. " _The_ Captain Shepard? Infamous pirate of the Terminus System? Righter of Wrongs? Saviour of the Colonies? Bane to slavers and drug runners alike?"

Jane raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't know about all that," she said, though she seemed pleased. "But, yeah, I'm that Captain Shepard."

"Wow," Garrus replied, not knowing quite what to say now that he was sitting in the presence of a legend. "Wow."

"None of that, don't be ridiculous," Jane said, waving a hand. "I'm just a washed out Alliance soldier who wasn't quite ready for retirement."

"Now who's being ridiculous?" Garrus pointed at Shepard with his drink. "I've got a subscription to Space Pirates Monthly and you were in five of the last seven issues. The way you took out the Blake Syndicate was simply inspired."

"Space Pirate Monthly, really Garrus?" Shepard asked, shaking her head in amusement. 

Garrus tried to draw himself up in his seat. "I'll have you know they have excellent articles on munitions."

"And the turian women who model them are just happenstance."

"Exactly," Garrus agreed with a decisive nod. "Kentra, Lovina, and Resh have nothing to do with it."

Shepard laughed again and Garrus couldn't stop feeling the slightest bit smug. "I like you, Garrus."

"Ah, well, that's, uh, very good. " Garrus fiddled with his drink. "A good thing."

"So," Shepard toyed with the rim of her glass. "I was wondering..."

"So, there was a reason you sat here," Garrus said, trying not to feel disappointed that it wasn't just his company she wanted.

She grinned at him, all teeth. "Yeah, there was. I've seen you around. Heard about you, too. You work for C-Sec, but you're miserable there. Wasted."

"I can't be bribed," Garrus said, "just so you're aware."

Shepard gave him a look. "What makes you think I'm trying to bribe you?"

"The compliments are a dead giveaway."

"I'm not trying to bribe you, you dummy. I'm trying to hire you." 

Whatever Garrus was expecting, it wasn't that. "What?"

"I want you on my crew," Shepard said. "I need someone like you, with your skills, on my team."

"There are plenty of people with skills comparable to mine. Most who'd work cheaper and come with less baggage." Garrus might be protesting, but he couldn't help wanting to agree to Shepard's offer.

"Maybe," Shepard agreed, "but I don't want to hire some thug whose only concern is money. I need someone who has, what's that term again? Oh, yeah, moral fiber."

Garrus laughed, he couldn't help himself. "You do realize my biggest problem with C-Sec is all the red tape. I'm not one who enjoys following the rules."

"That's what makes you perfect," Shepard replied, serious. "There's no red tape on my ship. There's no regulations stopping us from helping the people who fell through the official cracks."

He knew he should think about it more, or at least sober, but he knew that if he waited, he'd miss his chance at something incredible. This was something he couldn't let slip through his talons. "I'll do it. I'll join you."

"Great," Shepard said, tipping back the rest of her drink. "I'm at Docking Bay H23. We're leaving at ten tomorrow."

For one wild minute, Garrus wanted to ask Shepard back to his rooms until the facts that she was a) human and b) going to be his Captain ruthlessly reasserted itself back into his brain. His knowledge of human physiology was practically non-existent and sleeping with the boss was always a bad idea, besides. And, frankly, Garrus wasn't exactly sure where the urge came from in the first place. He'd never been a xeno before and there was no good reason to start now. Clearing his throat, Garrus focused once more on the woman standing in front of him, and smiled something that hopefully didn't come across as painfully awkward. "I'll be there."

After Shepard left, Garrus stayed at Chora's Den for another hour, nursing his last drink of the night and wondering what he was getting himself into for the sake of freeing himself from boredom and restlessness. He spent twenty of those minutes wondering if he should have spoken to her about making sure there were dextro friendly foods. A further ten of those minutes he'd spent dithering over whether he should call his father. In the end, Garrus settled for sending Solana a drunken, rambling message that she likely wouldn't see for another six months. She was the only person who'd really care he'd disappeared anyhow.

Despite the late night and the heavy drinking, Garrus woke early the following morning completely filled with a nervous restlessness. He spent five minutes cleaning before he gave it up as a bad job and instead packed his scant few personal possessions into his dusty, worn travel bag he'd been given as a gift from his dad when he entered the service. He decided to take what few dextro provisions he had with him, in case there wasn't anything on the ship. It could at least tide him over until they made a supply run. Lastly, Garrus sat down at the extranet and tried to figure out how to word his resignation without using the phrases "useless bureaucrats", "corrupted politicians" or "soul-sucking waste of time". 

He decided on which version to send by imagining his father reading it and going with the one which made him cringe the least, then he got up, tossed his bag over his shoulder, and walked out the door. He didn't look back.

Garrus had barely stepped foot onto the docking bay when he was accosted by Captain Shepard. "Garrus! Good, you're here early. We just got a request to check out a signal in the Hourglass Nebula. I want to be in the air in thirty."

"Ah, yes, anything I should know?" Garrus asked, relieved he'd be jumping in with both feet. Left him with less time to worry.

Shepard shook her head. "We'll debrief once we're in the black. Here we are, Garrus. This is my baby. The Alderaan. Don't be fooled by her appearance. Or her name. She's had some upgrades."

"Her name?" Garrus asked, because ships named after stars, even retired star names, was a fairly common occurrence.

"You know, Alderaan, it's named after a planet from one of the Old Classic vids," Shepard explained, then her grin turned sheepish. "I guess you wouldn't be up on Earth pop culture circa over a hundred fifty years ago, would you?"

"Not something they taught in the academy, no," Garrus agreed. "Though, now I admit to being thoroughly curious."

"It's a bit of a joke," Shepard said, looking fondly at her ship. "The name. It came from a movie made when FTL space flight was more fantasy than even a far off dream. We all had to watch the vids in school when studying pre-space flight history, and how people imagined it coming about. Some of the vids are closer to reality than they'd ever have guessed. Others are so ridiculous that our class could barely stop laughing long enough to listen to the dialogue."

"One night, you should show me. For the purposes of cultivating understanding through cultural exchange. I'd show you some old time turian vids, but they're mainly about war and bringing honor to your family by killing someone in the most traditional way possible." Garrus suddenly realized he was dangerously close to asking his Captain out on a date and cleared his throat nervously and shifted on his feet. " Anyhow, you'd mentioned something about upgrades?"

"Oh, yeah," Shepard said, and Garrus could see the shift between Jane, the woman he'd talked to in a bar to Shepard, Captain of the Alderaan. "We've got a diverse crew right now. Everyone brings something unique to the ship. And we sometimes have temporary crew members that stay with us for a time. So, we have a patchwork of upgrades from various species and places. Though, it's always a work in progress."

"I could take a look at the main battery, if you'd like. I've experience working on vessels like these during my stint in the turian military."

The grin on Shepard's face made Garrus want to smile back at her. "You can improve my girl?" Garrus nodded. "Then, yes, please do. If you need any supplies or resources to make the fixes, let me know and I'll get them. Somehow. I'm pretty good at finding what I need."

"Will do, Captain," Garrus replied. He took another look at the Alderaan and boarded it, feeling pleased.

"Who's the turian?" a woman with lots of tattoos said by way of greeting. Garrus opened his mouth to respond, but he was beaten by Shepard, who had followed him through the airlock.

"This is Garrus Vakarian, Jack, and our newest crew member," Shepard answered, with the slightest hint of authority. "Get everyone gathered in the mess in ten. I'd like to get the introductions done all at once."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack said, rolling her eyes. "Whatever you say, Shepard."

"Before we head down, I'll introduce you to our pilot." Shepard ushered him over to the cockpit. "This is Joker."

"Oh, goody, a turian," Joker said as he looked at Garrus over his shoulder. "Hopefully, you're not as humorless as the last turian we had on this ship."

"I'll endeavor to avoid living out a stereotype," Garrus replied, dryly. Shepard snorted out a laugh as she lightly clapped Joker on the shoulder. "Ow," Joker muttered under his breath and Shepard just looked at him, fond, and led Garrus back out toward the CIC.

Garrus listened in silence as Shepard showed him the rest of the ship. This hadn't been his first time on a frigate, and there weren't many differences between a turian and a human made one. He could see easily where there had been upgrading done, here and there, utility clearly favored over aesthetics. 

"Let me show you to your bunk," Shepard said, as she led him to the crew quarters.

Garrus cleared his throat, hoping Shepard wouldn't mind too much about the request he was about to make. "I had mentioned about working on the main battery." He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at her. "Couldn't I just set up a cot in there?"

"Privacy on a ship, Garrus?" Shepard asked, but she didn't seem annoyed, only amused, so Garrus relaxed his shoulders. "Sure. We have one in there already. Good for when we're in a situation that needs monitoring." 

As soon as Shepard opened to the door the main battery, Garrus' tension left him. It was quiet, dry, and just the slightest bit warmer than the rest of the ship. 

"I take it you'll like it here," Shepard said, clearly watching his reactions. 

Garrus nodded. "You know, nothing like doing some calibrating before bed to ensure pleasant dreams."

Laughing, Shepard waited by the door for Garrus to drop off his things before she tugged him back down the hall over toward the kitchen area.

"And here's our crew. Well, most of them anyway." Shepard led him over to a large table in the mess hall which was crowded with people. "I'll let you all get acquainted with each other." Shepard gifted her crew with another small grin. "This is Garrus Vakarian, everybody. Now, I need to check in with a contact of ours, get the details for our next mission. I'll be back in ten for lunch." She patted him once more on the shoulder and left.

"So, Garrus," Jack said, teasing grin on her face. "You're the fresh meat."

"Jack," someone said in warning. A human. Male. Dark hair and eyes, serious voice and expression. 

Jack just rolled her eyes. "Fine, Kaidan, I'll lay off the rookie."

"Hello, Garrus," Kaidan said, standing up to offer his hand. "My name is Kaidan Alenko." Garrus accepted it, nodding in acknowledgment. Kaidan pointed to person next to him. A male drell. "This is Thane Krios." A female quarian. "Tali Zorah." Another human male. "Jacob Taylor." A human female. "Ashley Williams." A male krogan. "Urdnot Wrex."

"Nice to meet you all," Garrus said as he sat down in the empty seat offered to him by Tali. Seeing that he wouldn't be dextro on the ship made him feel better immediately. "I'm Garrus, as you may have heard."

"So what's your story?" Jack asked, curious, this time without the hint of menace. 

Garrus' eyes widened. "Story?"

"Yeah, your story. Ain't no one joined this crew without a story behind it. We all got one. What's yours?"

"I hated my job. So Shepard offered me a new one," Garrus said, leaving the table giving him various versions of 'unimpressed' in response. Garrus sighed. "Fine, I worked for C-Sec ever since I completed the mandatory tour of turian military service. My boss is a paper-filing bureaucrat, too busy worrying about filling out forms to bother solving any of the crimes on the Citadel. I was on temporary probation because I lacked the ability to put my head down and shut up after they left some monster doctor go free. Shepard found me in Chora's Den trying to suffocate my irritation with alcohol. Now, I'm here."

"Never figured a turian would get upset about rules," Wrex said, with a short laugh. "Well, unless he was a Spectre."

"I live to defy conventions," Garrus replied as he accepted a plate of food on a plate clearly marked 'dextro safe'. "Your turn. After all, turnabout is fair play."

"Fine," Jack said, using a knife to cut up a piece of rehydrated fruit in a obvious display of aggression. "I'd been caught up with this crew. Bad people doing bad things. Was still just a dumb kid, trying to escape where I'd been. Captain came along one day. She kicked ass, took names, and after the dust settled, all that was left was me and some other kids who'd been caught. Offered me a ride to wherever I wanted to go. Decided to stay."

"There's not much of a story with me," Jacob said, as soon as Jack had finished speaking. "The Alliance has just as much red tape as C-Sec. Decided to put my skills to good use."

Kaidan tapped his fingers down on the table and gave a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I'm a L2. Causes some pretty bad migraines. I was asked to retire due to health reasons." Kaidan's expression stated just want he thought about forcibly retiring from the military. Garrus felt for him. What's a soldier supposed to do if he can't be a soldier.

"As for me," Ashley said, "I'd been a soldier, born and bred. Thought I'd do it forever, just like my father and grandfather. But, sometimes you can't outlive the sins of your father, or grandfather, as it were. He was in the Battle of Shanxi," she said, and it explained everything. Her grandfather's name was a joke to turians. And to humans, too, he assumed. This, he understood. You couldn't escape your family name, for good or bad, in the meritocracy. If your family was honored, you were expected to be the same. If your family was in disgrace, you had to work twice as hard to counteract the stigma. Ashley sighed a little, looking down at her plate. "Even when I realized I'd never rise over a certain rank, I'd decided to stay. Then a vengeful little toad decided he wanted to rise off my back. I was offered the choice of retiring or being retired. A friend of mine introduced me to Shepard, so I joined up." 

"Sorry," Garrus said, because what else could he say? "That's rough."

"Yeah," she said, waving her hand. "It's fine, now. It's okay." Somehow Garrus doubted it.

Tali fiddled with her induction port. "I'm on my Pilgrimage. Shepard needed someone to work on her ship and I needed the ability to search for something worthy to bring back to the flotilla. In the meantime, Shepard gives me the coordinates for some derelicts she finds. I'm able to send my father, who is an admiral, the locations. This way, I can stay away from the flotilla a little longer."

"Getting along?" Shepard asked from behind him. Only years of practice kept him from jumping. "We're about two hours out from a pit stop we need to make." 

"What kind of pit stop?" Tali asked. "The kind with supplies we need to buy or the kind with guns?"

"The kind with guns," Shepard replied, seemingly delighted at the prospect. "Wrex, Jack, Garrus, get down to the armory. We're suiting up and Garrus needs a shakedown run for his first time out with us."

"True. You probably need to make sure you can keep up with me," Garrus said as he walked toward his gear with Shepard's laughter in his ears. He looked forward to be able to shoot at something that wasn't made of paper.

Later that night, as he hunkered down on his cot he thought about how easy it was to work with Shepard. He thought about dinner that evening, and learning the rest of their stories. He thought about Thane's words about finding peace with Shepard after losing his wife. He thought about Wrex's laughter as he claimed Shepard was the most fun he'd had since leaving Tuchunka. He thought about Shepard whose face brightened as she talked about a difficult shot Garrus made out on their short mission. 

He thought about how one day on this ship felt more like home than the Citadel ever had. He fell asleep thinking of the way Shepard smiled as she cleaned her gun after the mission. He liked that smile.

**

"One hundred credits says you can't make that shot," Shepard taunted. They'd been hunkered down on a small stretch of rock, overseeing the valley below for the last ten minutes. The merc band they'd been tracking had raided the last two scientific expeditions searching for mineral deposits on the base of the mountains. Shepard got a message—as she so often did—and they'd reached the sparsely populated area of the planet a day later.

Garrus adjusted himself as he sighted their target—an ugly man in even uglier armor—through his scope and replied, "I'll take that bet."

An exasperated sigh came from Garrus' left. "If you would quit flirting and start shooting, I'd appreciate it," Wrex said, disgruntled. 

"You're just sour because your accuracy leaves something to be desired," Garrus returned, ignoring the flirting remark. Otherwise, he'd spend the rest of the mission stammering. Again. Which would be embarrassing.

Shepard nudged Garrus' leg with her heel. "Go on, then, prove it."

"You're on, Captain," Garrus said, aiming carefully, and taking the shoot. The merc fell to the ground, and all the men around him started running around like startled pyjacks. "Never should've bet against me, Shepard."

"For that, I'm making you watch Fleet and Flotilla next time Tali wants to watch it," Shepard threatened without heat. "All right, guys, time for target practice." And with that, she fired a shot at one of biotics who'd shot off a singularity to block anyone trying to approach them on foot.

"About time," Wrex grunted, and took off for a lower ridge on the mountain side. Garrus and Shepard stayed put, giving him cover fire as they slowly whittled the numbers down.

"All clear, Captain," Wrex said over the communicator ten minutes later. "Enemies all down."

"Copy that, Wrex," Shepard replied, and got to her feet, dusting off her armor as best she could. She glanced over at Garrus and nodded her head toward the merc camp. "Let's get searching the camp. We're wasting daylight."

"Understood, Captain," Garrus said, and followed her to where Wrex was busy piling up the bodies near one of the vehicles. "Hopefully, we can find out who's been giving the orders this time."

"Your lips to god's ears," Shepard said as she entered the smallest of the prefab units. 

Twenty minutes later, Shepard had the location of two more merc bands affiliated with the group they just took out and a possible bead on their leader. They'd also uncovered four crates of red sand, over fifty-thousand in credits, and five crates with black market munitions. 

"Shepard to Alderaan, come in." Shepard looked up at the sky, no doubt judging how long they'd have before night fall, which was cold and unforgiving on this planet.

"This is Alderaan," Joker said, "awaiting orders."

Shepard picked up a gun from the container and turned it over in her hands. "Joker, send in the rest of the team. We need to clean up, fast."

"Roger that, Captain," Joker replied, and clicked off the comms. 

It took under an hour for the whole team to dismantle the camp. The prefabs were stripped bare of everything not nailed down. The useable vehicles were loaded into the Alderaan's armory bay and all the salvageable gear was loaded along with it. There was a ruthless efficiency with which the team worked that Garrus admired, now. At first, the act of stripping a camp made him the slightest bit uneasy. Though, it was quickly buried under the knowledge that it paid the bills and if left behind, would be nothing more than a waste, anyhow.

"Heads up, Garrus," Shepard said as soon as they were back on board. Garrus reacted just in time to catch the small item Shepard had thrown at him. Turian chocolate. The nice stuff. "Found it in the camp. Wouldn't want it to go to waste."

"Thanks," Garrus said, pleased. He hadn't had much for treats on his months on the Alderaan. The food wasn't bad, just typical spaceship fare, which wasn't all that good, either.

He headed down to the small, cramped starboard room, which passed for a lounge. Tali was already in there, watching something on the small screen of her omni tool. "Hey, Garrus." 

"Hi, Tali," he said, sitting down next to her. "Want some chocolate?"

"What? You know I can't have chocolate," Tali said, "unless it's turian chocolate, which you would know, because we eat the same foods. Um. Where did you get it?"

Garrus shrugged. "Shepard gave it to me."

Stilling, Tali turned more fully to him. "Shepard gave you turian chocolate?"

"Said something about finding it at the camp and not wanting it to go to waste," Garrus replied, feeling a bit defensive, and not knowing quite why.

Tali nodded slowly as if not quite sure if she should believe him. "All right, Garrus. I'm sure that's what happened. Even though there were no turians or quarians at the camp. They probably had some lying around. For visitors."

"Do you want some or not, Tali?" Garrus said, feeling his face heat up, even though it was hard for anyone who wasn't turian to tell.

With a quick shake of her head, Tali relaxed her posture, and Garrus got the sense she was smiling behind her mask. "Sure. Just a tiny piece."

The chocolate felt warm on his tongue as he and Tali slowly worked their way through the bar. He listened to Tali talk about how there was something fiddly with the drive core she was trying to coax into working better and tried not to think about Shepard's gift.

**

"Another group has been located, about two hundred paces to the north," Shepard said quietly into the comms. "Five snipers in towers, six behind the barricade near the door. More might be inside. There are two turrets guarding the front and back entrances."

"Copy that, Captain," Garrus responded. "I'm nearing their left flank."

"Garrus, try to take out the snipers on your side. Tali, work on hacking those turrets. Wrex, Kaidan, Jacob, wait until we clear a bit of a path, then come down the front. Ashley, with me."

After everyone acknowledged their orders, Garrus crept forward, keeping low to the ground, and found the perfect place to get in a few shots. The coverage was decent enough that he'd be difficult to find, and he also had the height advantage.

He lay down on the ground, quickly got the sniper in the nearest tower in his sights, and took the shot. Garrus refocused his scope and found his second target, who went down as quickly as the first. The last sniper on his side was quickly scanning the area near Garrus, trying to find his location. He'd almost had Garrus in scope when the loud sound of a turret exploding distracted him, allowing Garrus to take the shot.

"All sniper units on my flank are down, Captain," Garrus informed, "waiting for new orders."

"Circle around to the south, find a good spot, and make sure no one escapes out the back. Bravo team is headed in front."

"Copy that, Captain," Garrus replied, and hurried to find a new perch. 

Once everyone was down, and Garrus joined the team searching the warehouse, he got the sense that this job was more than what it had seemed.

Shepard's face lost its usual 'delighted by the mayhem' appearance and was replaced by something distracted with worry. Ashley's expression mirrored Shepard's, as it often did whenever something was bothering Shepard. 

Not for the first time, Garrus wondered if there was more going on than he'd been made aware. It embarrassed him that he didn't notice it right away, the things that were not quite right with Captain Shepard and some of her crew. At first, he was too busy being delighted at his change in vocation, of being free from the shackles of C-Sec and the prolonged sense of festering in his own life, then he was just busy. Too busy doing calibrations or going from mission to mission to think much on it. Lastly, there was Captain Jane Shepard, who featured in his mind as much during his resting hours as she did when he was awake.

It seemed obvious in retrospect, however. The quality of the frigate she had. The fact that she had a frigate at all, even one that'd been decommissioned. The way she showed no signs of bowing under the stress that supposedly lost her a place in the Alliance. The times when Shepard, Ashley, Jacob, and Kaidan would disappear for an hour or two. Then there were her contacts and how quickly she responded to disruptions in the Terminus System. The way she never got caught when she ventured back into the Council Space for the occasional job or two. The way she always knew someone who lived in the different colonies, so she always managed to protect them in time from various menaces. 

Garrus wasn't sure, exactly, what was going on, but he knew there was something. It also was perfectly clear that Jack, Tali, Wrex, Thane and the other members of he ship weren't in on it. Tali, because she was a quarian and the only people who really trusted quarians were other quarians. The rest because they lacked the structure and posture familiar with people who lived under command for any length of time. 

Despite being certain there more going on than he knew, and the burning curiosity to find out just what it was, Garrus decided to keep quiet for the time being. If his curiosity got too insatiable, he could always employ some of the more effective techniques of getting information out of beautiful women that he'd seen in a few vids he'd deny ever watching.

"Quit daydreaming, Vakarian," Shepard yelled over to him where he'd been dithering over a console. "We need to get this place stripped down before anybody thinks to check why the communications are suddenly down."

"Yes, ma'am," Garrus replied, doing his best to sound like he'd been caught up on work and not all daydreaming about interrogating her. Without clothes.

Shepard came over to where he stood and gave him a look of fond irritation. "What have I said about calling me ma'am?"

Garrus schooled his expression into something innocent. "Don't?"

"So, I didn't imagine that conversation," Shepard asked, playful.

Shaking his head, Garrus picked up a small datapad. "You don't seem to mind Joker calling you ma'am."

Of all the strange things, Shepard responded to that comment by blushing. Just a hint on her face and ears. "Yeah, well, I don't trust Joker with free range."

"Probably a good idea," Garrus said, and took in the way Shepard seemed distinctly anxious in a way she rarely was. "What was it that you asked me to call you?"

"Shepard or Captain on the job," Shepard replied, then she captured him with an intense stare that made him wish he was alone in the main battery with a vid or two. "Jane, when we're alone."

Garrus cleared his throat nervously. "I'll make sure that I remember that, for the future. Captain." 

"See that you do," Shepard said, and she walked away, all stiff posture and tense shoulders as if she wanted to turn back and look at him, but refused to allow herself to do it.

**

Later that night, Garrus found himself once more watching a vid on his omnitool, and hoping no one ever, ever, ever looked at his browsing history. It wasn't that he found humans attractive, really. It was that he found _Shepard_ attractive and had no idea how to even go about finding out if she returned his interest.

Sometimes, he thought she did. She'd look at him over meals or invite him to watch an Old Classic human vid in the lounge. But, she never said anything directly or touched him in any way but friendly. The vids all had long speeches and ridiculous overtures, but Garrus couldn't see Shepard appreciating if he tried to serenade her during meal time or showed up in her quarters uninvited with flowers or in his under things. For one, he couldn't sing. Furthermore, he was sure the rest of those things were illegal in most parts of the galaxy.

He tossed and turned for another hour, got up and tried to do some calibrating, but was too distracted for it to be anything other than a disaster, and then watched another vid, which featured a story about a famous human actress who fell in love with her turian bodyguard. When the vid ended after an improbable, fade-to-black sex scene, Garrus erased his browser history, and got to his feet. There was a small piece of dextro cheese he'd left in the cooling unit and some turian protein paste that'd taste decent with it. 

Garrus had just left his cot—or nest as Shepard liked to call it—when he heard voices coming from near the elevator. 

"Ma'am," Ashley said, sounding tense. "I know you said earlier there wasn't a problem, but I think otherwise."

Shepard didn't reply right away, but after a few tense seconds, she said, "It's fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"Permission to speak freely, Captain," Ashley said, more formal than Garrus was used to hearing.

Shepard sighed. " _Ash_."

Ashley took it as leave to continue. "He knows more than he's letting on. He's suspicious. I can tell. You need to talk to him before he goes looking for answers on his own."

"He hasn't asked me a thing," Shepard argued, but he could hear the hint of doubt in her voice and Garrus was positive that it was him they were discussing.

"And that's the problem," Ashley said, louder than before, which she seemed to realize, because she finished with a quiet, "he's not like the rest of them. He was in the military. He worked in the investigative division of C-Sec. There's no way he could have that kind of experience and not question things. Unless he was bad at it, and we both know that he's not. The fact that he hasn't asked question proves it."

"All right," Shepard said, defeat in her tone. "You're right, Ash. I'll talk to him soon. At least I've got discretion in this, otherwise, it'd be a bigger problem than it already is."

"Thanks for listening to me, Ma'am," Ashley said, painfully sincere, as if she were expecting Shepard to dismiss her and was surprised the opposite happened.

Shepard seemed to notice the same thing because Garrus could hear the sound of skin touching skin. A pat on the shoulder, likely. "I'll always listen to my crew, Ash. No matter what. I can't guarantee I'll agree or take action, but I'll listen. Look, it's late and we've got to exchange supplies over at Terra Nova tomorrow and that means dealing with customs."

"Ugh," Ashley said, feelingly. "Good night, Captain."

"Good night, Ash," Shepard replied, and Garrus shifted back into the shadows until he heard the sound of Shepard retreating into the Captain's quarters. He grabbed the piece of cheese, forgot about the protein paste, and nibbled it as he walked back to the battery, mind filled with all sorts of questions, which would hopefully be answered soon.

The next morning came far too quickly and was as boring and mind-numbing as Shepard had predicted to Ashley. Customs took forever mostly because the only one on duty was a bored turian, who was young enough his that his face paint hadn't even fully dried. Shepard seemed to be losing patience by the second and Wrex had started fondling his shotgun, which was never a good sign.

"All right, Captain," the turian said after another hour, "everything checks out. You're free to enter the port as soon as your weapons permits check out. Oh, and there it is. Everything's all set."

"Thank you," Shepard said, though the tone was far less gracious than her words belied. 

Garrus followed her down to another dock, where she was meeting a contact who had some supplies that needed delivering to a nearby colony. The rest of the crew were selling most of the surplus salvage they'd come across over their last few jobs and generally clearing space for new hauls.

"Captain Shepard," a volus called out as soon as they neared. "It's me, Emita Bal." 

Shepard smiled. "I was told you wanted my helping with a...delicate situation."

"Yes," she replied, "I need these supplies delivered as quickly and quietly as possible. I can't afford to trust they'd make it through a shipping company. There's been some skimming during some portion of the run and I cannot afford to have that happen this time."

"Don't worry," Shepard assured. "My team is very trustworthy. Everything will be delivered as promised."

"I have heard good things," Emita Bal said, "very good things. Here's a datapad with all the information." She looked around before she handed it to Shepard. "I dare not speak aloud in case someone is listening."

Shepard reassured the volus once more and they went back to their dock to await the delivery. 

"Garrus," Shepard said as they leaned against the railing. "Got plans tonight?"

"Well, there were some calibrations..."

Shepard snorted. "Real plans, Garrus. I mean real plans."

"Calibrating is very serious business, Shepard," Garrus said, primly. "I'd never joke around about that."

" _Garrus_ ," Shepard said in the closet she came to a whine.

He sighed, amused, and said, "Nothing that couldn't be put off until another evening."

"Good," Shepard said, "because you and I need to talk."

"Doesn't that sound ominous." Garrus looked over at her, who was busy staring at the docking ships.

Shepard tapped her fingers against the railing. "Don't worry so much, Garrus. You'll get wrinkles. Or whatever the turian equivalent is and then think of all the krogan women would come calling on you."

Garrus shuddered dramatically. "You know how to paint a nightmare scenario."

Tossing her head back, Shepard laughed.

**

Shepard told him not to worry, so Garrus felt compelled to do the opposite for the rest of the day. He'd conjured up scenario after scenario of what Shepard planned to talk to him about from learning that she worked for a Shanxi political group or that she was kicking Garrus off the ship because he spent so much of his downtime researching human/turian sexual positions.

"C'mon, Garrus," Shepard said, showing up a full three hours before their original plan. "If I make you wait any longer, you'll be more nervous than a quarian with a suit rupture."

'"Ouch," Garrus said, not disagreeing. He followed her past the mess hall—where Jack gave him an exaggerated leer—and over to her personal quarters. "I've never been in the Captain's quarters before. Very ominous."

"Quit worrying, Garrus," Shepard said, and led him over to a small table which had two plates of food and two bottles of alcohol. "Thought you might like dinner with me."

"Am I reading this right," Garrus said, surprised, pleased, and the slightest bit nervous. "A date?"

"Yeah, Garrus, a date," Shepard said with a grin. "What's a girl gotta do to get your attention?"

Garrus smiled. "You definitely have my attention. You've had it since we met."

"You say the sweetest things," she said, and sat down. "Now eat."

"Yes, Ma'am. I mean, Jane. Yes, Jane," Garrus stuttered out, watching as she looked at him with a grin that probably meant trouble for him.

The food was good, better than the stuff they usually had in the mess, which Garrus realized was probably intentional.

"I like you, Garrus," Shepard said, after they finished eating and were now sitting on her sofa with their drinks in hand. "I like you a lot."

"I've never," Garrus started. "Not with a human, anyway. I've researched it a bit, but there's only so much you can learn from vids."

Shepard smiled at him, soft, and scooted closer until their thighs were touching. "What sort of vids were you watchin'?"

"Um," Garrus stammered, vaguely embarrassed. Shepard put one of her hands on his knee. "Ones that showed a few things."

"Things you'd like to try?" Shepard asked, her hand slowly moving from his knee to his upper thigh, which she gripped tightly. 

Garrus swallowed thickly. "Yeah, things I'd like to try." Shepard didn't waste time after that. She darted forward, kissing him gently, cupping the side of his head as she did. "I've been wanting to do that for a while, Garrus," Shepard admitted, before she darted forward for another kiss.

"Me too," Garrus admitted, "I know I'm not an expert on human attractiveness. But you are very appealing. With your hair. It looks good. And your waist. Very supportive. "

"Thanks." Shepard chuckled lightly before ducking in for another kiss. "Should I compliment your fringe or your facepaint? Lookin' good, Vakarian."

Garrus laughed before he could stop himself. "You are a very unique woman, Jane."

"Join me," Shepard said. She got to her feet, tugging Garrus to join her as she walked backwards towards her bed. "I want you to."

"Yes," Garrus breathed out. "Though, I'm not entirely sure how we can do this. Safely. Um. The vids usually glossed over this part."

"You're definitely going to have to show me some of the vids you watched," Jane said, as she opened a drawer next to her bed. She pulled out a small bottle and a couple of prophylactics. "I sent a friend of mine a message. He's an expert on xenobiology. Gave me some advice."

"Show me," Garrus said, stripping out of his clothes. He suddenly realized how badly he'd been wanting it, which seemed ridiculous given the amount of time he'd idly researched it in his downtime. But, right then, staring at Shepard as she took off her clothes, he was struck by how much he admired her, wanted her, needed her. How vital she'd become to him over the months he'd been a member of her crew. She was simply essential like nothing else had ever been before.

"C'mere, Garrus," Jane said, guiding him to lying down in the middle of the bed. "It'll be more comfortable if I'm in charge of this mission."

"You're just saying that because you like being the boss," Garrus said, allowing Shepard to adjust his position and roll a condom down over his shaft. She poured some of the lubricant in her hand and stroked him until he could scarcely think of anything other than the way she felt.

Jane chuckled. "Yeah, Garrus, I like being the boss." She crawled forward, placing one hand on his shoulder as she hovered over his cock. "You like being under me, don't you?"

"Yes," Garrus hissed out as Jane slowly lowered herself down on him, and not just in answer to her question. He suddenly couldn't keep his hands off of her, gripping her hip with one hand and trailing his talons over any skin he could reach with the other. 

"Oh, god," Jane moaned, hips rolling strong and fast as she moved. "Garrus. _Garrus_."

Garrus shifted, sitting up more fully so he could nip at the skin on her throat, her shoulders, moving his arms to hold her as close as he could. She felt so beautiful, so vital, in his grip, and he never wanted to stop holding her. "Jane," he breathed out, loving the way her name felt on his tongue.

He wanted her to slow down, take her time, just so it could last longer. Forever. But, as ever, she did what she wanted, moving faster, gripping his shoulder tight and strong, and brought their foreheads together, so she could look at him. "I love you, Garrus," she whispered, as if afraid to admit it out loud.

"Jane," he panted out. He could feel the way her muscles fluttered around him as she came. "Jane." He held her close as she lay relaxed in his grip. He thrust up a few more times before his orgasm blindsided him. It took him a few minutes to loosen his hold enough for her to move to the side. Before he had a chance to try, Jane was already deftly removing the condom, tying it, and tossing it into a nearby basket.

She curled up next to him, tugging the blankets on her bed over them, and Garrus pulled her back into his arms so he could place another kiss on her forehead, her cheek, her lips. "I love you, too," he murmured as they enjoyed just being close to each other in bed. 

Garrus felt seconds away from sleep when Jane shifted in his arms. "Jane?" he asked, soft and dazed.

"I wanted to talk to you," Jane said, sounding the slightest bit contrite.

Suddenly, the earlier conversation he overheard Jane having with Ashley came back to forefront of his mind, having been thoroughly driven out when he realized this evening was a date. "This wasn't to soften me up for a blow, was it?"

Jane snorted. "No. I, uh, had planned this evening for a couple of weeks. The need to talk to you came later. I know I should have talked to you first, but I'd been looking forward to this night for a long time."

"Just tell me what it is," Garrus said, running his talons lightly down her arm. "It can't be that bad."

"I have a feeling it won't come to much of a surprise to you," Jane admitted. "There's more to this mission than I originally told you."

Garrus nodded, kissed her once, and said, "I figured as much."

"Almost five years ago, I was involved in a mission." Shepard paused, took a fortifying breath, and continued, "A lot of people died."

"I know," Garrus said, because it was news, even to the turians. "You should have gotten a medal, instead of a discharge."

"I did," Shepard confessed. "I got a medal and a request to do a deep cover mission. An admiral came to me and asked me if I was willing to do whatever it took to help the Alliance. I was asked to go deep undercover with a small squad, become a pirate, and monitor Alliance interests primarily in the Terminus Systems because we weren't allowed to help there officially. I agreed. There have been signs that there is more going on than the typical crimes common out here. Nothing we can actually prove. But, there's something going on. We've been trying to discover what it is."

"I see," Garrus said, and he did. It made perfect sense for the Alliance to do what it could for the humans out of their official grasp. It also made sense that something was going on in the Terminus System. There was so little monitoring, people could get away with a lot before the Council became aware. "Thanks for telling me." He kissed her again.

"When we leave this room," Jane said, shifting to get more comfortable. Garrus closed his eyes, and finished, "everything was the same as it was yesterday."

"Let's get some sleep," Jane whispered in his ear. "We've got that delivery over on Eden Prime."

**

A loud, screeching sound pierced the air, and Garrus looked around wildly, trying to find its source. He saw a ship the size of which he'd never seen before moving to land in the distance. "Spirits," he breathed out, the tiniest bit of fear building in the pit of his stomach.

"Team, with me," Shepard shouted over the comm. "That's not a friendly. We need to protect the colonists."

There was an Alliance team on the ground, but the woman in charge immediately obeyed when Shepard stormed over to her and took over. "Listen, I know you're the leader for your team, but I've got about seven years more experience than you in combat situations. Follow my command and I'll get as many of you out alive as I can."

"Yes, Ma'am," the soldier responded, saluting her. "Listen up, 212," she yelled into her comm, "Captain Shepard is now in charge of this mission. Follow her command."

What happened next would have shocked Garrus if he had enough time to think about it. 

"Geth," Tali shouted, surprised and angry. "Geth outside of the Veil."

Suddenly, the Geth were spilling out onto the settlement followed by something that seemed eerily close to those machine cultists he'd heard about from the days of Shanxi. 

"Everybody, spread out, pick your targets. Avoid touching any tech you don't recognize," Shepard commanded. 

The next few hours were a haze of guns firing and avoiding enemies. Garrus thought he saw another turian running around the battlefield, but he was too busy guiding a small group of scientists back to safety in one of the lockable pre-fab units.

He'd lost sight of Shepard some time in the middle of a particularly frustrating firefight. He'd gotten cornered by a small squad of Geth when Thane came up behind him, and shouted, "I will draw their fire."

Thane darted out, drawing the Geth's attention enough for Garrus to take down two of them. Thane twisted around and killed a third. A fourth suddenly twitched, and shot down the rest of the team. Garrus looked over his shoulder and smiled at Tali who'd joined them.

"Thanks, Tali," Garrus said, panting. "Have you seen Shepard?"

"Last I saw, Shepard was with Wrex and Ashley, heading toward the tram," Tali said, as she looked around. "I think this area is clear."

Thane checked his weapon. "I also have not seen the Captain in some time. Shall we search for her?"

"Let's," Garrus said, "we can check on civilians as we go. Tali, on my six. Thane, scope out the trail ahead."

"Copy that," Tali said, dropping back as she did. Thane sent a quick prayer and darted up ahead.

They scoured the area and found a few more groups of farmers and scientists, who they directed to some of the pre-fabs to hide until they gave the all clear.

"Garrus," Tali said, "we need to find the Captain."

Garrus stopped his search and turned around to go to her position. "What is it, Tali?"

"I found this unit, he was still crawling to safety," Tali said, standing over a now dead geth. "I was able to get some information out of the drive core before it disabled itself. Shepard needs to hear it."

"Oh?" Garrus said, he tapped on the communicator, trying to radio Shepard who hadn't responded to his last few hails. "Shepard, do you read me? Come in, Shepard. This is Garrus."

"Garrus?" Shepard's voice came through the comms a few minutes later. "This is Shepard. Sorry for the radio silence. It was pretty ugly for a while there. We're located near the port. I'll send the tram back and you can meet us there."

Garrus, Thane and Tali made there way to Shepard, and he felt a certainty that something big was going on, bigger than anything he'd ever seen before. The tram ride was fraught with tension, as if they knew that when they reached the end, any semblance of peace they had was over.

"Let's do this," Tali said, giving him a friendly bump on his shoulder. Thane said another prayer, and Garrus could only hope that turians mattered to drell gods, too.

"Garrus," Shepard called out, "Tali, Thane. Good to see you unharmed." She was pacing in a wide perimeter around a tall beacon. It looked strange, like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"Same to you, Shepard," Garrus said, taking in all his teammates, who looked fine, more or less. "Tali found a recording on one of the geth. A turian Spectre called Saren is behind this. He's known for his ruthlessness. There was also another voice, but we didn't recognize it."

"There was another Spectre here," Shepard said, worn. "Nihilus. We transported him in the past. We caught up with him momentarily mid-battle. He was shot in the back."

"Spirits," Garrus cursed. "He was a good man. Why was he here, though?"

"Apparently, there's a small team who were here to investigate this beacon." Shepard indicated the structure behind her. "Captain Anderson, an old friend of mine, is coming down to secure the area now. We've got a lot to bring to the counsel."

"Saren mentioned the beacon in the datafile Tali found," Garrus said, looking at it curiously. "I think that's the key to figuring out what this whole mess is all about."

Shepard looked at him, catching his eyes for a moment, before she turned to face the beacon. "We'll figure out what he's up to," she said with a conviction Garrus could do nothing but believe, "and we'll stop him."

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr: [here](http://darthkrytie.tumblr.com)


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